Undressing the Torah: Jewrotica

Ayo Oppenheimer reads on stage, alongside participants, at “An Evening with Jewrotica: Bedside Reading.” Congregation Agudas Achim and the Jewish Federation’s Young Adult Group co-sponsored the event on April 23.

By Jackie Schicker on June 27, 2013 [Jewish Herald Voice – Houston]

What sort of content is appropriate for Jewish journalism? The Jewish Herald-Voice covered this subject in a 2012 article about Yeshiva College’s Stern College for Women’s student newspaper that lost funding when it published an anonymous, student-written column on premarital sex. It was deemed inappropriate for the Jewish community the paper serves. Today, there is an online outlet, Jewrotica.org, designed to facilitate such discussions and more.

Jewrotica is a pluralistic organization and website that publishes essays, articles and columns, such as “Double Mitzvah,” addressing Judaism on sex and relationships. The site also publishes erotic fiction and poetry and has an easy-to-navigate rating system, so that none of its users ever are exposed to content that may make them uncomfortable.

This spring, Jewrotica began touring the country with workshops on Judaism and sexuality, facilitated by Ayo Oppenheimer, the project’s founder. Oppenheimer has worked in Jewish education for nearly 15 years and has presented to more than 250 Jewish groups, cross-denominationally. Oppenheimer will be leading Jewrotica’s first-ever camp workshop during Shabbat, June 29, at Camp Young Judaea in Wimberley, Texas.

The JHV spoke with Oppenheimer on the occasion of the first anniversary of the site’s development and inception at ROI Community Summit in 2012. ROI works with young Jews, globally, to develop a coherent community of innovative and well-equipped leaders for the future.

Oppenheimer launched the website in October 2012, because she wanted to create a space for people to see that Judaism is “sex-positive.” Growing up in an observant Jewish community, Oppenheimer said she was “well-prepared for almost every facet of life,” except sexuality, because it was considered something she only would need to address later. Therefore, the goal of Jewrotica initially was to “help to put sexuality in a uniquely Jewish context,” she said. “That way, it wasn’t this dichotomy of Orthodox communal norms and MTV blatant sexuality. [The goal was] to develop a unique middle ground and to live up to Judaism’s sex-positive approach.”

Jewrotica certainly has raised some eyebrows in the wider community, for combining religion and erotica; however, the organization does hold specific standards for publication. There is never any nudity or pornography on the site, and advertisers always are from Jewish sources, such as Israeli universities and never from adult-entertainment sites. The rating system, ranging from PG to XXX is for adults, which should be taken into consideration when perusing the site. Oppenheimer said she often is asked why it is necessary to publish erotic poetry and fiction and not simply stick to the educational essays and Torah commentary.

“I think it’s the marriage of those two distinct pieces of content that really makes Jewrotica unique, because if you come to Jewrotica for an essay or a commentary on the parashah, or whatever it is, and stumble upon ‘well there are some interesting ideas that might open up my repertoire a bit.’ Or, conversely, you could really not be plugged in at all to the Jewish community, but here at Jewrotica be totally intrigued, come to check out some stories and then end up seeing, ‘oh that’s what the parashah’s about.’ ”

Though Jewrotica still is in its early stages of development, the project has gone global. Coverage on the project in major newspapers in Germany and Spain has led to a request for translated materials; there now is a translator for Spanish content. If exciting press coverage were not enough, Jewrotica also helped to organize an event in Sydney, Australia, in June, based on workshops and led by lay leaders.

Jewrotica currently has three types of workshops: “Sex in the Jewish Tradition,” “Bedside Reading” and “Kedoshim Tehiyu: Sex Ed 101 Jewish Style.” Each program offers different components and is specialized, depending on the audience. The first looks at relationships within the biblical texts, such as Samson and Delilah, the second is a poetry slam-style event with music and a variety of readings, and the third focuses more on issues, such as consent and healthy sexual relationship through a Jewish lens. The program at CYJ this weekend will be presented to the staff and likely will feature components from Bedside Reading to keep the presentation interesting but will be altered slightly to keep it shomer Shabbat.

With seasoned and first-time writers alike, Jewrotica has published essays dealing with miscarriage, ritual challenges for transgender men and interfaith dating. Jewrotica does not claim to be a halakhic source on sexuality; its permanent staff does not currently include any rabbis, but rather, educators facilitate conversations on sexuality and relationships in a Jewish way. Oppenheimer said the most important thing for readers to realize: “Jewrotica is about you. It’s about everyone, it’s very much an evolution, and it’s not something to just kind of sit back and watch where it goes. If you love it, fantastic, get involved. If you don’t love it, then tell us what we could be doing better or better yet, just join the team and do it yourself.”

“Even though what we’re doing is a little bit edgy and boundary pushing, every step has been successful and addressed a need,” said Oppenheimer. “There is tremendous educational potential here, mostly for Jewish engagement to lure people in that are not actively involved in the Jewish community right now, but also for sexual education and expression.”

Oppenheimer will be in Houston in November and hopes to work with local groups to host workshops and events. For details, email ayo@jewrotica.org.